1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shoe particularly adapted, but not limited, to those intended for the practice of sports. In addition to a conventional retention of the foot by the heel, this shoe can be used as a mule or slipper, e.g., without a structure for retaining the heel. This latter purpose makes it possible to use the shoe as a casual shoe.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
In the state of the prior art, there are shoes used in climbing, for example, which have a certain elasticity in the rear lateral portions so as to permit the introduction of the foot therein by moving away, toward the rear, the piece that retains the heel. Some users bend this heel piece forwardly so as to transform the shoe into a mule, in order to relax the foot. However, this improvised use of the climbing shoe remains uncomfortable, because the elastic lateral portions do not extend to the sole and, therefore, the heel piece bends improperly within the shoe.
Other inventions, such as those described in the documents U.S. Pat. No 4,783,909 and IT 22 732/87, include regular shoes which are provided with an appropriate device, in the heel area, to be used as a mule. This device creates a preferred bending zone in the area of the rear lateral portions, by cutting into the shoe upper a slit that extends down to the sole, and by assembling the edges of this slit by means of a zigzag stitch. The slit, in connection with the stitch, acts like a hinge. However, the stitch is extremely biased because the edges of the slit move apart forcefully during the hinge movement. Moreover, the frequency of the passages from the conventional position to the mule position and vice versa cause a rapid wear on the thread and an enlargement of the stitching holes. Thus, the slit rapidly undergoes a residual deformation which renders the shoe unaesthetic in either one of the positions, in addition to the unaesthetic aspect of the stitch itself.
Still other inventions, such as those described in the documents IT 198 948 and DE 196 11 797 include rear constructions of the upper which make it possible to compress this portion by bellow systems. However, these devices only permit the introduction of the foot into the shoe more easily through the rear. Use as a mule cannot be envisioned because the compression of the rear of the upper is only partial and does not extend down to the sole.
One of the objects of the present invention is to propose a shoe, especially for the practice of sports, which can optionally retain the rear of the foot, or leave the rear of the foot exposed, while providing comfort and good foot retention in both positions.
Another object of the invention is to propose an aesthetic shoe which does not incur an untimely wear on the rear of its upper, and which maintains a good reversibility from one position to the other.
To achieve these objects, the shoe has at least one band which connects a heel piece, located at the rear of the heel, to a quarter. This band runs from the top of the upper and extends down to the sole, and it has a greater flexibility with respect to the heel piece and the lateral piece. Thus, the bending of the rear of the upper is focused in the flexible band, and is achieved by elastic deformation of the constituent material of the band, without showing any structural discontinuity of the upper.
In a first embodiment, the band is made out of a stretchable material and contributes to the shoe closing means.
In a second embodiment, the shoe has conventional closing means on the instep girth, and the band has a difference in flexibility with respect to the heel piece and to the quarter.
These two embodiments can be described according to three variations in which the flexible band includes a more rigid insert. In the first variation, the reinforcement does not extend down to the sole. In the second variation, the reinforcement extends down to the sole and has a bending zone. In the third variation, the reinforcement is connected to the heel piece through a bending zone.